A GAUNTLET OF BOTANICAL MADNESS!

When it came to selling a comic book on the overstuffed spinner and newsstand racks of the 1950's, nothing was more important than the cover. Horror comics were not excluded and they in particular, reveled in providing the potential buyer with a peek at the gruesome delights to be found within.

This tradition has carried on through the years and this gallery of original are horror comic covers show. The practice of putting the publisher's colophon on the upper left-hand corner was a way of keeping from getting buried among all others. You will notice that even today, at Barnes & Noble for instance, that many magazines are now shrinking and moving their cover titles into that spot to keep from getting hidden on the rack.

Art by Jim Aparo.

Art by Nick Cardy.

Art by Steve Ditko.

Art by Johnny Craig.

Art by Johnny Craig.

Art by Joe Kubert.

Art by Luis Dominguez.

Besides the greatness of the EC line, there are a multitude of other gems hidden within the pages of pre-code horror comics as this example attests. Ruben Moreira (aka "Rubimor") turned in a weirdly atmospheric tale of dread for Pines Publication's ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS (#5, 1952).

Auction Lot Description
Ruben Moreira Adventures into Darkness #5 "Horror's Little Acre" Complete 7-Page Story Original Art (Pines Publ.[aka Standard], 1952). Moreira, a.k.a. Rubimor, was one of the finest pulp-tradition illustrators ever to grace the comic-book scene. His pre-Comics Code work is especially bracing, with a highly stylized hyper-realism in a class with Alex Toth and Johnny Craig. Moreira brings more to the tale than is written (scripter unbilled) in recounting the ordeals of a honeymooning couple, stranded in a place dominated by supernatural horrors. The title is a riff on Erskine Caldwell's famous Southern Gothic novel, God's Little Acre (1933), which gained renewed popularity during the 1950s while on its way to becoming a Hollywood movie. Ink over graphite on Bristol board, with an image area of 12.25" x 18.5". Light to moderate toning. Very Good condition.

Here is how this story looked in the printed comic: